A wide ravine where a shallow, gentle river flows. Years of drought and silt deposits have built this area into a fertile delta. The river remains low and dry most of the year, staining its waters brown and creating muddy shores.
Elcid and Zane hadn't lingered long in the Dark Forest with it being as covered with smoke and fire as it was. She would make a point to return there some day to harvest some of the charred would, but today would not be that day. When their paws had touched greenery and they had stumbled across a river, Elcid had begged Zane to let them rest there. While there was claimed markers in the distance, this part of land seemed to be mostly unclaimed by others who might chase them off and back into the dark forest. This didn't mean they could drop their guard, of course, but it meant at least an opportunity to catch their breath.
They had rested for a couple of days by now. She felt mostly recovered from their long journey but dreaded the fact that there was more yet to be traveled. They still hadn't found a home yet after all. She knew they needed to keep searching. Zane was sure she was aware of it each day. She didn't want to move on just yet, though. So, to buy time, Elcid went out to search for a hunt. Maybe a fat rodent would fill Zane's stomach enough to let her rest for one more day.
Against better judgment, Elcid waded through the shallow river that started the Dark Forest and crossed to the other side, her eyes scanning for something small and plump enough for a meal. 'Maybe I'll find a rabbit, or maybe a muskrat. Yeah, a muskrat would be perfect!' She was on the edge of the kingdom's territory and knew it, but she'd already explored the Dark Forest. It was as empty as its name implied it was, and she and Zane were hungry.
Notes: Elcid is on the very edge of the muddy river territory in an attempt to hunt. She is not making an attempt to trespass so the thread is not marked as such.
Private thread for Dos.
Perception roll used to see if Elcid spots any prey
Success: target acquired
failure: negatory
Character Diceroll 1: Successful Diceroll must be above 500 to be successful.
0 was added for Perception.
532 was added for Level 3.
0 was added for A. No Enchantment.
0 was added for A. No Buff / Penalty.
Dos trotted merrily through the grass closer to the riverbed - she had found nothing but good things around here lately! She bumped into the monarch and Gabriel gave her a cool, leather scarf that she was now wearing proudly, so it only made sense that she come back! Besides, she remembers that a certain quest-companion had been found next to a river, half-drowned and mostly beat up from the waters, so she felt compelled to stay near the water. Maybe she'd come washing down the river again? This time, Dos knew how to set a broken leg! And she knew where some poppy flowers were so she could use the seeds to make her feel better - it was the perfect storm.
Of course, her loyal wait didn't have to be as boring as they made it out to be in the stories she was told.
So she decided to practice her morph skills more, this time changing her whole appearance instead of just her shape. It used more energy, but she had to admit, not changing her pelt color did kind of defeat the purpose of using her shapechanging skills to hide - especially when it was a creature like a rabbit that didn't have cool flame patches! So instead, she settled on turning her pelt the same dusky brown she remembered from the flower fields, allowing the fiery orange of her eyes to face into simple black irises and, much to her disappointment, her luxurious tails to merge and shrink to a curled tuft. She gave a few test bounds of her new figure, feeling a light thump against her chest.
Huh?
She glanced down - oh spirits, it seemed like she'd forgotten to disguise her stormbead again. It was a problem she had a lot, often working around the electrical energy rather than trying to bring it into her very body. Oh, well! It wasn't like this was a test or anything! And besides, for the most part it was hidden among the thick plume of fur that surrounded her neck and draped across her chest, not unlike a pillow.
She bounced to the edge of the river to lean over the flowing water, admiring her transformed reflection.
---
Speech.
Dice Success: Dos manages to pass flawlessly as a rabbit, her stormbead hidden among her fur
Dice Fail: Dos' stormbead reveals her to be not normal
Character Diceroll 1: Successful Diceroll must be above 500 to be successful.
0 was added for Deception.
543 was added for Level 2.
0 was added for A. No Enchantment.
9 was added for B. Homeland Buff.
At first glance it seemed that her crossing the water had not gone unnoticed, for she found zero prey as she stalked along the edges of the water. She didn't really want to hunt closer to the claim markers, but walking along the water provided her no stealth. If she wanted to hunt, she needed to step closer to the edge of the tree line. Hopefully whoever was close by would understand... With her path altered, Elcid shifted her hunting eyes to that of the tree line she was searching to that of the shoreline she had been walking down. She used the shadows of the shrubs and trees obscure her figure, trying to step carefully and remain down wind of what might be drinking the river's edge.
What luck! Without too much time passing, Elcid was able to lay eyes upon a small brown rabbit. It would be perfect for Zane! Elcid crept closer as she inspected the prey from a distance. It looked nice and healthy and perfectly plump enough for Zane to fall into a quick slumber. Perhaps there was even enough for her to pick at afterwards. He would naturally reject her meal offering at first, in which she would declare she felt too sick to eat, and then maybe she could chew the remnants of a leg. She was already salivating at the thought of the meal.
She just had to catch it first.
Closer and closer Elcid crept towards rabbit through the underbrush until she felt like she was within leaping range. She crouched, her ears back and her body tense. She waited for the perfect moment for the rabbit to look away. It lowered its head to drink and Elcid's form exploded from beneath. Would her pounce and following bite strike true?
Elcid:
Leaps at Dos-Rabbit!
Success: Leaps on Dos-Rabbit successfully and pins it down preparing for a bite!
Failure: Leaps at Dos-Rabbit but misses and eats mud instead!
Character Diceroll 1: Unuccessful Diceroll must be above 500 to be successful.
0 was added for Dexterity.
484 was added for Level 2.
0 was added for A. No Enchantment.
0 was added for A. No Buff / Penalty.
I look nice! Dos decided, pridefully, twisting her head back and forth to look at herself in the water. It was always weird becoming a prey animal and gaining their weird kind of stretchy vision that let her see nearly behind herself without having to turn her head but made the space just in front of herself kind of blurry. Maybe she should draw her eyes slightly closer to the front in this form? She gave a quick little lick of her paws and swiped her face curiously before her long ears twitched, catching a crunching.
Huh? she blinked with curiosity, then jumped back with surprise when a gray blur sprung from the brush. She prepared to scramble out of reach of a hungry predator, only to blink again in surprise as her would-be attacker soared clear over her and - yep! Dos winced sympathetically, remembering how her own paws had slipped in the mud and send her skating, filling her mouth with mud and a few loose pebbles right before she bumped into her monarch.
"Oh wow," Dos squeaked, the gray she-wolf's form immediately becoming recognizable in her eyes. Forgetting to transform back or that the wolf probably couldn't understand her in her changed shape, she bounded over to the downed wolf. She sniffed her without the caution of a rabbit, using her nose to carefully prod the leg of fox-turned-bunny remembered as the one that had been broken in the waterfall, but thankfully, it seemed in-tact this time around. That was good!
She gave a pleased binky and sat in front of the wolf expectantly, waiting for her to get up again.
The bunny had seem so preoccupied that Elcid just knew she was about to be prancing back towards Zane with success between her jaws. So, when she pounced and missed, she was stunned not only from the impact of her face quite literally eating dirt, but also by the fact that she had missed! The impact of her face meeting ground was painful and had her groaning as her body landed in a slump on the ground. Her head came up quickly once her focus came back to and she quickly worked her tongue, making funny faces as she made an attempt to spit the dirt and gravel out from between her teeth and jaws. She tasted blood, but knew she had lost her hunt. Was it a missing tooth or had she bit her own tongue during the pounce? She didn't have time to worry about that. She had a rabbit to find and chase after! It was probably gone by now, but she had to try! She didn't want to eat dirt for nothing.
There was suddenly a squeak beside Elcid. An unexpected squeak which seemed exceptionally loud to Elcid's jarred sense. It was enough of a startle to send Elcid into a shriek, nearly jumping out of her skin in the process as she whirled up and around on her paws. She saw the rabbit beside her, sitting there, staring at her after she had screamed. She had screamed because a rabbit had squeaked next to her she suddenly realized. "Oh. my. gods!" she exclaimed at the rabbit standing boldly in front of her. "Don't do that! That's how you give someone a heart attack! I mean, I wasn't scared of a rabbit. I was just playing! Anyways, you're supposed to be scared of me, not scaring me! Go! Run! Stop being cute! I'm supposed to be eating you, not talking to you, and it doesn't feel right when you're just staring at me and not-scaring me!"
"It's okay, rabbits can be scary sometimes," Dos squeaked, reaching out to pat the wolf with a little black paw while waiting patiently for the she-wolf's word vomit to settle down. Had Elcid been talkative like this the first time too? She doesn't think so, not to her at least so maybe she was happier now? Awesome! That was another good sign! it was sitting back on her haunches, sniffing the air for blood that she realized that she'd forgotten to shift back. Oh! Silly her, no wonder the blue-wolf wasn't talking to her normally - she thought Dos was a really cool rabbit.
The plume of fur around her chest muffled the crackling of lightning this time, electricity flowing through her pelt as she rapidly changed form and increased in size back to her usual long, fluffy-tailed form.
"Woo, head-rush," she giggled, she hadn't forced such a fast shift in a long time. It used to make her really dizzy and her tummy hurt, so she'd just stuck to doing it relatively slowly. She gave a little shake, flexing her toes and drawing her tongue across her muzzle as she recovered her sense of taste. "You think I'm cute? You're super sweet! You're cute too! Please don't eat me though, wolves don't have to eat foxes this time and this kingdom is wayyy cooler than the old one - oh! Did you find your Zane? I woke up with mama and Uno this time so I hope you have your Zane and your medicine."
Elcid was so nice already! Dos was happy to confirm the she-wolf didn't seem to have changed with this journey into a new world, especially with everything else that had changed.
Much to Elcid's disbelief the rabbit did not heed a single word she shouted at it. In fact, it squeaked at her again and proceeded to pat her on her paw. What was she supposed to do? Just... reach down and bite the rabbit's neck? But, no. Something was off here. This prey did not fear her. Elcid had heard stories about familiars before. Sometimes those with strong Will would bond with a creature. Was... was Elcid bonding with a rabbit?
...
...
Why did it have to be a rabbit out of all the creatures that freaking existed?
Maybe this was it. This was how her dramatic and short life came to a close. She was destined to bond with a rabbit, destined to protect a delicate prey animal from any harm that should come its way. There would be no grand tales of the tricks and items she bestowed upon the world. There would be no songs written about her schemes and get-aways. Nope. She would die protecting a rabbit - which was very likely to happen considering she was absolutely not a fighter. Maybe she could just keep it in a cage...
A spark of lightning deviated her thoughts and she looked down at the rabbit just as it exploded in electricity. Great. She'd already failed at doing the one thing she was supposed to do with this rabbit. But then, just before her eyes, the electricity ceased and the shape shifted into a friend she thought was lost to her. Her jaw hung open as she stared at the familiar fox, Dos, who now stood before her. She immediately went into explaining who she'd ended up here with, shared that there was (apparently) a better kingdom here, and inquired about Zane. Elcid's tail thumped against the ground while she stared at Dos in disbelief. Wait, had Dos known it was her all along?
"You!" Elcid began, scrunching her face up in embarrassment. "You had me questioning my entire destiny! Did you know it was me? Why didn't you reveal yourself to me sooner? You scared me so bad! I mean, you uh, why did you do that?" She felt dumb as she sat there with her face bruised after having tried to hunt her friend. What if she had been successful in her pounce? She could have killed her and never knew it! She tried not to be mad at Dos but she couldn't help the lip curl as she spoke and questioned her. "I mean, I'm like super glad to see you, but that was not a fun prank."
... oh. So this is what it felt like being on the other side of a prank.
"I'm not going to eat you. I might have, though, if I had landed my pounce. You're so quick." Elcid started, the embarrassment and anger in her tone diminishing as the shock of the situation waned. "I'm with Zane, yes. We left the drowned lands together and wandered our way through the burned forest. I'm glad you're still with your family. I'm happy to see you. What's this Kingdom like? Zane and I are looking for a home." By the end of her words, her anger had completely vanished and her muzzle held a soft smile instead. Her tail swayed in a wag. "Maybe it could be with your Kingdom?"
